The development of radiation and thermal energy sensors remains an important endeavor for applications such as sterilization monitoring, real-time cure monitoring, and radiation and thermal dosimetry. Known radiation and thermal energy sensors either (1) produce a change in color when exposed to radiation or thermal energy due to the presence of one or more photochromic or thermochromic dyes in the sensor or (2) generate a detectable amount of heat (e.g., exotherm) due to chemical reactions that take place within the sensor with the detectable amount of heat being measured via a microprocessor. Among the many methods available for radiation and thermal energy sensing, colorimetric techniques remain advantageous in that the human eye can be used for signal transduction, rather than extensive instrumentation.
Though colorimetric sensors currently exist for detecting exposure to radiation and thermal energy, there exists a need in the art for colorimetric sensors that are based on chemistries other than photochromic or thermochromic dyes to avoid one or more shortcomings associated with photochromic or thermochromic dyes. For example, the response of dyes can have limited tunability so that detecting radiation within certain desired ranges may be a challenge. Further, when using photochromic or thermochromic dyes, a calibration step, as well as a correlation step is necessary to relate a photochromic or thermochromatic dye response to exposure to an amount of UV or heat energy. In addition, potential photobleaching of photochromic dyes is another problem that must be considered with sensors comprising photochromic dyes.